New Delhi, Nov. 20 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to come out with a uniform national policy for organ transplantation that provides equal access and opportunity to all recipients. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai noted the disparity among states which do not have facilities for organ transplantation in government hospitals for the benefit of underprivileged. Some states were yet to adopt the amendments and rules introduced under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 2011 and the accompanying rules in 2014. "A uniform national policy on organ donation is imperative to secure health of citizens," the court said. "A uniform policy for registration of patients, criteria of allocation of organs and tissues and uniform registry formats shall be developed by the national organ and tissue transplant organisation (NOTTO) in consultation with states. Such uniform policy, criteria and formats shall be applicable throughout the country," said the bench, also comprising justice K Vinod Chandran. In the event of non-compliance, the court directed states to take appropriate action against the concerned hospitals. The directions were issued in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Indian Society of Organ Transplantation which highlighted issues of uniformity, equality and access in the realm of organ donation for both donors and recipients. "The Union through NOTTO is directed to evolve model uniform criteria to ensure national swap-transplantation policy in consultation with states, providing for equal opportunity for all persons through an accessible national web portal," the order said. Further, the directions required the Centre and states to evolve measures to ensure donor welfare....